Every once in a while I am reminded how Alaska is such a unique place. While I’m certain it’s not all “that” unique to have coupons for firearm purchases, I’m guessing you won’t see this same circular floating around the Seattle or Portland area Fred Meyer stores.

My favorite part of these coupons is the limitations. For rifles and shotguns, Limit 4 per customer and Limit 2 for all handguns $299.99 and up! Maybe they’re trying to tell us something…should I be stocking up on my firearms? Haha. Anyway, just a funny and random thing that I felt would be fun to share.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

For the record, I never drank coffee until my mid-20s – right about the time I took a full-time job as a new media (web designer) director at Internet Alaska (circa 1997). Through my coworkers, I was fortunate to have been introduced to one of Alaska’s better coffee houses, Kaladi Brothers. My drink of choice at the time was a calorie laden and chocked full of chocolate mocha. This led to a dangerous and expensive habit of 2-3 mochas per day. Several years later, I had developed a taste for coffee – just the coffee. Thus began my movement to drink only Americanos. (The fact that Kaladi then sold Americanos for $1 was also a major contributor.)

Fast forwarding through many years of coffee drinking, experimentation with brewing at home and even a corporate job at Starbucks Coffee – I have truly tried and tested nearly every coffee out there (at least from Seattle Portland to Fairbanks Nome). I’ll just skip to the punchline, the best coffee in Alaska is Raven’s Brew Coffee. Now, let me explain why and how I came to this conclusion…

1. Taste, consistency and freshness. Taste is a subjective topic, but in my mind there is no other coffee in Alaska (or Seattle) that compares. I have some favorite blends, but most importantly – I have NEVER had a bad cup of Raven’s Brew coffee. Even with my subpar Krups espresso machine (at least 8 years old now), Raven’s Brew coffee always produces a rich, smooth and crema topped shot of espresso. Never bitter, burnt or thin.
2. It is roasted locally. Okay, sure there are other roasters in Alaska including some great companies like Kaladi Brothers and Heritage Coffee. Raven’s Brew has three roasting facilities in USA: Anchorage, Ketchikan and Tumwater (Washington). If you are even remotely aware of the value of fresh roasted coffee you should already know why buying a pound of name brand coffee Peet’s, Starbucks, Kiva, etc. from the grocery cannot even compare to the locally roasted bean.
3. Great people, great company. I don’t know all the people at Raven’s Brew, but I have worked with the Anchorage roasting crew on some promotional projects. Their passion is very simple: Make the best coffee. I’ve often asked them about opening their own cafe’s, which is repeatedly met with the concern that running a cafe would detract from their core mission of coffee roasting. From my personal observation: They really do care about roasting, it’s their #1 mission and it shows in the final product.

I could go on and on about the taste, quality and freshness – but I will spare you the details. In short, Raven’s Brew has been on my favorite coffee list for at least the last 5 years. Not to be forgotten, many of Raven’s Brew beans are organic! I still try other beans from time to time and reluctantly drink other brands while traveling, but have yet to find any bean that surpasses the sheer drinkability of Raven’s Brew.

Now, thanks to this lengthy rambling about my favorite coffee – my cup of Three Peckered Billy Goat® is at room temperature (and actually still tastes great). So, in celebration of this late spring snowy day – I’m off to pull another shot.

(Disclaimer: My last business did some marketing exchange with Raven’s Brew – but I’ve never been paid to promote them and I am most certainly am not being paid for this article.)

A short video produced to introduce Anchorage citizens to the concept of working to bring Google Fiber to our city. Visit www.googifiak.com for more about the Anchorage Google Fiber bid. Hurry, we need you to nominate Anchorage before March 26th!

Miracles never cease! After nearly two years of whining, stamping my feet and having near conniptions – MTA has introduced new internet plans that have dropped my ISP costs by $40 per month. Finally!

MTA’s Big Gig internet plans are marketed as the answer to the “power users” that need more data usage in addition to having fast speeds. While I agree there are probably quite a few folks who do nothing but email and browse the web – the idea that “power users” are somehow a special class of internet citizen is really becoming an outdated notion. Facts are, nearly everyone today is uploading images to Flickr, posting videos on YouTube, watching shows on Hulu, renting Netflix or playing online games with their XBOX 360. All of us are now “power users”, so it’s probably a wise move for MTA to respond to this demand now – before everyone becomes a whining noise maker like me.

While this is generally great news, my exuberance for this new plan is limited to the fact that I am saving forty dollars a month. It’s still a sad state of affairs being on the edge of the broadband world. I’m sure there are many who have it worse, but I can’t believe that today, in 2010, that we are still paying more than $100 for 768K DSL service. I won’t go on about the state of affairs regarding Alaska internet options – you can check out my previous posts.

So, the short story.
Thank you MTA for taking steps in the right direction…

First off, the best news about the KTUU iPhone app is – it’s FREE. Giving something away is always a good way to attract tirekickers and followers. So the question is, is it worth it – even for free?

Searching for “KTUU” in iTunes app store was easy and obviously only gave 1 result, the KTUU app. Not putting the app under Alaska news might not have been the smartest decision, but if you already know KTUU – this is not a big deal. Okay, so the free install went as expected, nothing new here.

To some the terms and conditions may not be that big a concern, but this was one of the first apps I’ve installed that came with such a long legal agreement to accept. A minor negative for some and likely a non-issue for most…but what’s in that agreement anyway? So, now that I’ve accepted the terms that will never be read – they want to know where you are. Okay, I gave you my first born and gave you permission to track me…moving on, what do I get out of this deal?

My initial reaction to the interface was, “wow, nice”. Overall I think this off the shelf app from doapps (http://www.doapps.com/) is pretty slick. The menus are well sorted and smooth looking with a nice set of icons to represent the news, weather, sports, etc.

The news content is what you might expect from KTUU. It’s good, it’s local and it’s now inside an iPhone app. I did experience some problems with the app initially, categories not loading and some minor formatting issues that could be easily resolved (story images are too wide for the app).

Pros:

• Nice UI
• Relatively bug free
• It’s local Alaska news under a single button

Cons:

• Free = data mining and banner ads

All said, I would say kudos to KTUU for jumping in and putting it out there. Will I keep or use this app? Maybe, but likely not, only because I can get the same content more timely in most cases from other sources during my regular use of a desktop browser. I still applaud KTUU for doing it.

Get the KTUU app
Download the KTUU app from the iTunes app store.

Looking for a great Alaska iPhone app for travel?
Check out the Alaska HDTV travel app on the iTunes store.

3G is available throughout Alaska Update: 12 June 2010
Many people ask whether or not their iPhone, Blackberry or Android phones will work in Alaska. The short answer is YES, there is AT&T service most towns around the state of Alaska. AT&T 3G service is available in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Wasilla. For Verizon or Sprint customers, you’ll most likely be able to get access via ACS service.

Update: 26 May 2009:
Reports are beginning to come in that 3G is now active in the Anchorage and Wasilla areas. Karen Whitworth mentioned via Twitter that she is now getting 3G in Wasilla.

The debate (and wild guesstimates for the launch date) rage on about whether 3G will ever arrive in Alaska. We’re approaching the 3rd generation of the iPhone and yet we in Alaska haven’t even experienced the first generation of 3G. Check out the original post and comments here.

I spent nearly the entire day at the Wild Berry Theater in Anchorage today geeking out over amazing high end video cameras. It was also a great time to visit with some great people from around the state and those who are now making Alaska their new filmmaking home. Below are a few snapshots from the Alaska Filmmakers Clinic that included a great presentation by Ted Schilowitz of RED camera and other great presentations by Apple (ProRes), Sony cameras and Fujinon lenses.

The attendance was very strong and I believe this event ignited the “real” filmmaking industry in Alaska. Time will be the judge, but it really felt like Alaska may be breaking into the what-was-once-only-Hollywood kind of productions.

After the Clinic, hands-on with the cameras (including the amazingly Transformer-looking 3D rig) and presentations, many more people crowded into the theater to catch the “premiere” of Evergreen Film’s release of ICY KILLERS. This great movie about Alaska’s salmon sharks can be seen on National Geographic channel, check it out.

There’s lots more to say, but I wanted to share the photos right away while the rest of the experience sinks in. I’m personally grateful for the Alaska Film Office, Alaska Film Group, RED, Sony, Fujinon, Evergreen Films, AlaskaUSA (my credit union, yay!) and all the rest who made the event possible. Truly inspiring, thank you!

(Plug: We use Apple and Final Cut Studio for all our editing and are extremely grateful for the support that MacHaus has shown us over the last year. Seriously, if you are in Alaska and want help with your Apple and Mac products, you really need to visit MacHaus. They’re in Anchorage, Wasilla and Fairbanks. Thanks, Ben!)

It appears the Alaska MacStore has hijacked the MacHaus dot com address. The details of this Alaska Apple MacHaus / MacStore feud are unknown. What is obvious, is that in recent days the domain name www.machaus.com has come to life with MacHaus’s competitor, the Alaska MacStore. At the time of writing this article, MacHaus’s website at www.machaus.net was also completely unreachable.

I made a few calls to MacHaus to see what was going on and simply found out they are aware of the situation and taking “appropriate steps” to deal with the situation. Once I get some details from the owner of MacHaus, I’ll update this story.

One thing for certain is that we are witnessing what appears to be a clear violation of ICANN rules and the law. Unless there is a legal debate over the name MacHaus itself, the fact that the Alaska MacStore is using MacHaus.com is a clear ethical and legal step over the line.

It’s also fitting and ironic that MacStore is using a giant pirate symbol on the new MacHaus.com website.

Update:  

September 22, 2008
Now, the day after I posted this story, MacHaus.com is redirecting to akmacstore.com.  Someone is trying to obscure and redirect traffic. Tsk tsk, naughty. 

September 23, 2008
It appears the fault of the Machaus.net disappearance was purely coincidence and more the fault of ACS than anyone else.

I’ll keep digging on this story.  More to come…

3G is available throughout Alaska Update: 12 June 2010
Many people ask whether or not their iPhone, Blackberry or Android phones will work in Alaska. The short answer is YES, there is AT&T service most towns around the state of Alaska. AT&T 3G service is available in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Wasilla. For Verizon or Sprint customers, you’ll most likely be able to get access via ACS service.

Original post | August 3, 2008:
A little birdy told me that 3G should be coming to Anchorage in August 2008. Doing a little reading between the lines and based on some subtle hints, my estimation is that Anchorage and perhaps several other areas around Alaska will have 3G by August 11, 2008.

Enabling 3G will provide a much needed boost in AT&T’s arsenal of connectivity options for Alaskans. It will also mean for travelers to Alaska that their experience will be more like home. While I am usually fairly critical of all things connectivity in Alaska, having 3G implemented gives me a glimmer of hope.

Now that I have talked up AT&T and shown them some appreciation for rolling out 3G, I look forward to the decoupling of Apple and AT&T. I still believe some strong competition for the iPhone 3G would benefit everyone. Sure, the device is cheaper, but the plans are extremely expensive in my opinion. I’m still hanging on to my old CellularOne $60/month unlimited voice plan – that’s the number one reason I don’t have the iPhone.

So, hooray for Alaska and AT&T – let’s see if my predictions are correct! In my next post, I have a little more information about the number of available WiMax sites around Anchorage. I love the potential for WiMax and hope it can really create a competitive environment in the ISP market.

That is all for now.
-Kevin

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely believe that the online audience is infinitely more valuable in the long run. Convincing advertisers and marketers that “podcasts” are the place to be is whole different challenge, and that’s where bringing Alaska HDTV to the TV screen in the digital out-of-home market will further legitimize what we are doing and hopefully attract some new sponsors!

Digital out-of-home marketing is a buzz phrase that basically means, TV screens and advertising messages everywhere you go. At the gas pump, the grocery store, standing in line at the amusement park, billboards, etc., etc. In some cases, I believe this method will become interruptive and annoying, essentially becoming a banner ad in real life.

Alaska HDTV’s objective with the Fred Meyer connection is to create real conversion and sales opportunities for a potential sponsor such as Clif Bar, Coca-cola or Nestle – just to name a few names. The idea is to create interesting and contextual relationships between the audience, the content and sponsor/advertiser and deliver that message in a way that doesn’t take away from the viewer experience or damage the advertiser’s image.

This is a little on the experimental side of things, but I believe has the potential to pilot new and interesting approaches to blending media, messages and great content with advertising that appeals instead of interrupts the viewer experience.

The method:

• Present an Alaska HDTV show about hiking around Alaska
• Sports drink or energy bar message embedded in the show
• Drink or energy bar display at POS
• Viewer connects with the content, message and brand and buys!

So the next step: Alaska HDTV will find an advertiser that can convert their message into sales inside the store.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Alaska HDTV now seen by 4.2 million monthly

Alaska HDTV content is now seen in 130 Fred Meyer stores across the Pacific Northwest

Anchorage, AK (July 15, 2008) – Perfect Blend Media, LLC today announces the arrival of Alaska HDTV content in Fred Meyer stores around the USA.

In a collaborative effort with Retail Entertainment Design (RED), Alaska HDTV is now showing two videos approximately every 30 minutes in all of the Fred Meyer electronic departments nationwide. Fred Meyer TV monitors reach more than 4.2 million viewers every month. RED delivers digital video content in HD (high definition) to all of the Fred Meyer stores as well as several other retail operations in North America.

By expanding the Alaska HDTV brand to digital out-of-home markets, we are targeting a new audience and attracting new sponsors to support the Alaska experience both at home and in the store. Our goal is to provide attractive content to promote high definition television sales for Fred Meyer and provide a new delivery of product and branding messages for Alaska HDTV sponsors/advertisers who will benefit from in-store sales.

About Alaska HDTV
Alaska HDTV is product of Perfect Blend Media, LLC an Alaska company based in Anchorage, Alaska.

Alaska HDTV is a series of shows produced in high definition – dedicated to sharing the Alaska experience with a global audience. Our approach is to extend a real life experience for the viewer – allowing them to connect with the host, the location and the adventure. Alaska HDTV averages 100,000+ show downloads per month with a consistently growing subscriber base. Alaska HDTV is syndicated through major online venues such as iTunes, Mevio and direct RSS feeds.

Perfect Blend Media, LLC is a boutique production company specialized in creating mixed media productions that reach the correct audience with the right message at the right time – in the right place. We use a blend of new media applications including podcasts and social media with a dash of traditional media tactics such as TV, DVD and out of home marketing.

Media Contact:
www.alaskahdtv.com